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Sojo has luxury of tinkering with lineup

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By Christina De Nicola
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Special to MLB.com |

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- Team Venezuela manager Luis Sojo used both Tuesday's and Wednesday's exhibition games before his team departed for Puerto Rico and the World Baseball Classic to play around with his lineup.

A luxury he appreciates, Sojo had Elvis Andrus as the designated hitter and Asdrubal Cabrera as the shortstop on Wednesday. Salvador Perez started for Miguel Montero at catcher.

"I've got a lot of flexibility with the lineup," Sojo said. "If you turn it around, it's going to look real good. We've got three to five guys -- Pablo Sandoval, Miguel Cabrera and Carlos Gonzalez -- they all are great hitters on their team."

Omar Infante started for Marco Scutaro at second base. During batting practice, Cabrera took grounders at the hot corner -- his position with the Tigers. Sandoval has manned third base for two consecutive days.

There are countless All-Stars, a pair of National League Gold Glove Award-winning outfielders, an American League MVP an NL Championship Series MVP and a World Series MVP on the roster.

"It's definitely a really good, balanced team," Scutaro said. "We have a little of everything. We have some pop, some speedy guys and good defense. It's all a matter of between those two lines and trying to perform."

Christina De Nicola is a contributor to MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.